Is The Creator Economy The Future of Work?

Creators are more than Instagram influencers and NFT creators

When Social People, the social media agency I built in 2010 won the Nike business, I learned all about how Nike viewed the world of athletes and consumers. At the time, we were hired to support the development of the Nike brand in social media and to support the launch of the first tweet on the newly launched Nike Twitter account. Nike leadership wanted to find a way to help the brand expand what they called “athletes” and make more the Nike promise more accessible to a wider set of consumers. Nike had built its brand around world class athletes, NBA superstars, and Olympians, and it was time for the average Joe + Joanna to feel connected in a way that hadn’t before. Nike found a quote from the famed Coach and co-founder of Nike that was used as the first tweet. “If you have a body, you are an athlete.” I loved that quote, and it gave us permission to talk to anyone with a will, passion, and a commitment to move their body.

As I begin the work in the creator economy through our new company Creator Mode Studios, I revisited the opportunity to reach a wider group of people. In preparation, in 2022 I attended many conferences and gatherings like Gary Vaynerchuk’s Vee Friends Conference, SXSW, Consensus, NFT NYC and NFT ATL. I was able to see the intersection of communities, blockchain, and commerce through the lens of a new set of entrepreneurs. I felt that Web3 was exciting but honestly, we are still at Web2. The reality as Anna Bofa, one of the portfolio founders I work with at Crate says is, we are in “Web 2.5.” My challenge with what we currently call the “creator economy” today is that it does not make room for all of the people I think are actually the creator economy. Right now, the term has mainly been used as a new term for “influencers,” which the lazy marketers use synonymously for “social media influencers.” I’m here to propose that the term “creator” itself should really be “Creator-Preneurs” and expand to include a new era of entrepreneurs selling products, goods and services, and utilizing community, content and commerce in both Web 2 and Web 3. At Creator Mode, we believe that “Creator-Preneurs” are the future of work in this new economy. With an expanded view on the space, I revisited my Bowerman quote and remixed it to “If you have an imagination, you are a creator.”

The Creator Mode team is going to be spending a lot of time with creators, brands, startups, investors globally who are thinking about the similar concepts and all have incredible imaginations. Creator Mode is currently experimenting with blockchain technology through a partnership with Ripple Labs and their creator fund. Our first use case is a journey into tokenization with my long time friend and partner DJ Jazzy Jeff, someone I have watched experiment in technology, community and commerce since early 2000’s. Jeff, who is full of maxims I call “Jazzy Jeff-isms” once told me “the future of hip hop is an MC, a DJ and a camera-man” and in 2016 he set out to build a Bourdain-like Youtube show called “Vinyl Destinations” to document his travels around the world as one of the hardest working DJ’s in the world. After attending the invite-only conference Summit Series, Jeff felt there was a need in the market for a gathering for DJ’s, Producers and brands and “Playlist Retreat” was born. During the pandemic, after coming down with COVID, Jeff moved all of his DJ gigs to Twitch and not a shocker became one of the top DJ streamers on the platform. Brand partners like AARP (check out this DJ set), Webber Grills and 23andMe have jumped at the opportunity to partner with Jeff in his new content and community. Jeff this week launched a producer course for aspiring producers and DJ’s (like myself) and its already garnering attention

We are excited about experimenting with the DJ’s, Chef’s, Yoga Teachers, Restaurants, Gym owners, Hotels like Dream Hollywood, Clothing designers, lawyers, accountants, orthodontist who all believe that there are new ways to talk to their fans, customers, followers, devotees, community and tribe. Our believe is that as the economy shifts this will be a dynamic group of small business owners and unique businesses that take off.

I can’t wait to see the next Slutty Vegan story like the one we saw with Pinky Cole last year, with even more control at the day of signing her term sheet because of her relationship with her community. What if the cap table looked different and included some of her most loyal customers. We believe stories like Pinky Cole will look different and that first time and young entrepreneurs will require new skills to meet a new economy.

-James Andrews, Founder, Creator Mode Studios

“What I realized is I am at the age that the people who are in my age group do not go to a club. It was one of those things where I realized this is what the club is for grown people. Once that clicked for me, I was like, ‘Oh s###. There’s more people at home than in the club. So why don’t I try to become the DJ that plays for people at home?’

“It doesn’t mean I’m not going to go out. I just realized that I actually have the biggest club in the world. I can either go to Saudi Arabia and play for 10,000 people or I can stream tonight for 100,000 people. That turned into everybody wanting corporate streams. It turned into a whole business.”

-DJ Jazzy Jeff

Look Who Subscribed

• Hakim Draper (Web3 Music Producer)

• Dhani Jones (Former NFL Player, Investor, Founder)

• Ritzy Periwinkle (Latina Web3 Thought Leader)

• Derrick “D-Nice” Jones (DJ, Instagram Influencer, Producer)

• Dr. Mehret Mandefro (MD, FilmMaker, TV Producer)

• Parisa Rose (Content Producer, Coach)

• Erik Moore (Venture Capitalist)

• Damien Andrews (Creative Director)

• Vaughn Davis (Dream Hotel Hollywood)

and many many more………

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Other things we’re excited about

💡 Move over Monday, Notion is here to play

With a growing base of products and sites that companies can use, it seems as though Notion is hot among many startups and community groups. If you don’t know, Notion is a powerhouse app, with over 4M (and growing) users. In short, it’s an “all-in-one” workspace that you can use by yourself or with a team. Collaborate with others in real time, manage projects, set tasks, create mood boards, bookmarking and more, all in Notion. At the time of writing, Notion is available both on iOS & Android mobile devices, along with web-based and desktop apps. Do note most features on Notion are available for free, but if you’re looking for higher storage or more team members, you’ll want to get an upgrade. Notion has changed the way I work, personally and professionally, and I hope it helps you out too.

💬 Catherine Connors on “Proof of Culture” Clubhouse Show

This Friday, March 3rd, at 12:30pm PST, we’re grateful to have the incredible Catherine Connors as our special guest on “Proof of Culture” Clubhouse show. You can catch us live on Clubhouse, or follow James there to grab the replays afterward. We’ll be diving deep into the more human aspects of what it truly means to be a Creator and how imagination plays such a strong role.

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🎵❤️Music We Love 

Did I mention that I was also a DJ? I spin 90’s Hip Hop, Classic Funk, 80’s New Wave, Arab Hip Hop, Persian Dance Classics, NY House, Brazilian Disco, kind of everything. I’m known to spin for 4 hour sets on Clubhouse, incredible monthly sessions at Soho House Malibu and Dream Hotel Hollywood and some of my friends fabulous house parties.

Here’s a mix for you, come get this.

We will use this section weekly to showcase music we love.